Mark Ezell

Advocacy Practice of Social Workers

The author presents empirical information on the extent and nature of advocacy activity among a random sample of social workers. Almost all employed social workers in the sample performed both job-related and volunteer advocacy. They averaged less than five hours per week of on-the-job advocacy and less than one hour per week of volunteer advocacy. Agency goals and functions as well as job characteristics strongly influence the amount of job-related advocacy a social worker does. As a rule, social workers tend to be involved in case advocacy while at work and class advocacy while volunteering. Social workers were case oriented in their advocacy for or with their clients and were inclined to use approaches internal to their agency. An advocacy research agenda is recommended.

State Human Service Agencies: Structure and Organization

The structure of human services delivery systems in six states was studied in order to identify key issues associated with various structural arrangements. Attention was given to the degree of comprehensiveness and centralization as well as the extent to which various service integration mechanisms were used. We found that every states organizational design has strengths as well as weaknesses, and all represent compromises among various interest groups.

The Impact of Informal Social Networks on the Elderly's Need for Services

This paper explore the relationship between the service needs of the elderly and the types of informal support they report available to them. The authors found that elderly without informal support express only slightly greater current and anticipated service needs than those supported by informal networks. All of the respondents expect their service needs to increase in the future, especially health related services. The authors discuss implications for community planners and service providers and offer suggestions for future research.